1974 911 Project - Fabricating Almost Everything From Scratch

[GrangerFox]

Hey Pelican folks,

Long-time lurker, first-time poster here. I recently picked up a rough (and I mean rough) 1974 911 roller that had been sitting in a barn since the late ’90s. The previous owner started a backdate project, gave up, and left the poor car to rot under a tarp. I bought it as a learning project with the goal of doing almost everything myself — metalwork, wiring, interior, even engine assembly.

The Plan:
• Backdate to long hood RS style (already have the fiberglass bumpers and hood)
• Custom tubular front and rear bumpers mounts
• Scratch-built wiring harness using modern fuse/relay panel
• 3.0L build with PMO carbs and MSD ignition (engine came disassembled in crates)
• Full DIY interior (RS carpet kit, lightweight panels, 964 seats, minimal sound deadening)
• DIY suspension refurb: Elephant Racing bushings, rebuilt Bilsteins, possibly coilovers later

Where I’m Starting:
• Replaced the floors and front pan with Restoration Design panels
• Fabricated seat brackets to fit later model seats on the narrow tunnel
• Built a rotisserie from scratch and have the car fully stripped
• Just finished blasting and epoxy priming the body

Next up is fitting the fiberglass bodywork and starting the engine build.

Questions:
1. Anyone have tips for properly aligning fiberglass body panels? Hood gaps are awful so far.
2. For those who’ve built custom wiring harnesses — how did you route wires through the tunnel and firewall cleanly?
3. PMO guys — did you go with the vacuum advance distributor or lock it out?

I’ll post pics as I go if folks are interested. Appreciate any feedback — and thanks to everyone who’s posted build threads here. You’ve been a huge inspiration already.

[Ian Comerford]

We love pictures, the more the merrier! Seriously though, it does help understand your challenge and guide advice more appropriately

[chrisbalich]

Absolutely post pictures....as many as you have.
.
Lining up FG panels is labor-intensive. You have to be prepared to add, and remove, material from the panels to get them to line up nicely. There is no other way.